The present invention, relates to filter cartridge cleaning mechanisms.
The present invention, also relates to a manual mechanism, for cleaning a contaminated filter.
The present invention, more particularly, relates to a mechanism for cleaning filter cartridges, that are used in conjunction with water wells.
Water wells are usually equipped with removable filter cartridges, for trapping dirt, and other contaminants, in the cartridge, thereby preventing the contaminants from being carried along with the water, being pumped into the household water supply system. Such filter cartridges commonly last only a few months, before becoming sufficiently plugged with contaminants, so as to produce an unacceptably high resistance to satisfactory water flow.
The present invention is concerned with a relatively low cost mechanism for periodically cleaning a water filter cartridge, such that the cartridge can then be reused in a water well, for a prolonged operating period, i.e., several years.
I am unaware of any prior art devices that are specifically designed for cleaning well water filter cartridges. U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,892, granted to Russell Logue and John Williams, on Mar. 2, 1971, discloses an apparatus for cleaning an oil filter cartridge. The apparatus comprises an upright housing, sub-divided into three compartments by two horizontal partitions. One of these partitions comprises a porous screen, for filtering oil sludge from a cleaning solvent, as it drains from the uppermost compartment. The oil-contaminated cartridge, is supported on a horizontal plate in the upper-most compartment, and a vertical tube extends from the lower-most compartment, upwardly through the horizontal plate, to serve as a stationary spindle for the filter cartridge.
The cleaning operation, involves the introduction of compressed air into the lower compartment, whereby cleaning solution in the lower compartment is pumped upwardly through the vertical tube and into the filter cartridge via a series of small ports spaced along the tube. The used sludge laden solvent drains out of the upper most compartment, through a porous screen, or partition, that forms the upper wall of the middle compartment. Eventually, the solvent solution is returned to the lower compartment, for reuse.
A principal disadvantage of the apparatus shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,892, is a relatively high manufacturing cost. Also the apparatus requires a compressed air source, e.g., an air compressor, in order to be operational.
U.S Pat. No. 3,820,552 issued to Robert Lang and Robert Carnot, on Jun. 28, 1974, discloses an apparatus for cleaning filter cartridges used in swimming pool filtration systems. The apparatus includes a double-walled tubular shell having a manual valve at one end, whereby pressurized water can be supplied to the annular space between the inner and outer shell walls. Holes extend through the inner shell wall so that the pressurized water can impinge against the outer surface of a filter cartridge, placed within the tubular shell. The tubular shell, can be raised, or lowered, to vary the flushing action against different zones along the cartridge surface.
One possible disadvantage of the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,552, is the fact that the pressurized water tends to force the contaminants into the filter body, i.e., toward the cartridge axis, such that, at least some of the contaminants beneath the outer surface of the filter cartridge, will be driven further into the cartridge filter media, instead of being expelled from the cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,596, granted to Bo Pahlen, on November 29, 1983, discloses a swimming pool filter cleaning apparatus that is similar, in many respects, to the apparatus shown in the above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,552. However, in this case, the filter cartridge is provided with an elongated handle, whereby the cartridge can be moved back and forth within a hollow stationary shell. The hollow shell has a ring of internal holes at one end, so that while the filter cartridge is moving back and forth within the shell, pressurized water is being sprayed against a localized area of the cartridge outer surface. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,596, appears to have the same disadvantages as the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,552.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,547, issued to John Boylan, on May 30, 1972, shows an apparatus for blowing contaminants out of an engine air cleaner. The apparatus comprises a compressed air tank, having a vertical flow passage in its bottom wall. An annular shield is attached to the lower end of the flow passage, so that when the apparatus is placed over an air cleaner, compressed air can be discharged from the tank, through the vertical passage, thereby exerting a reverse pressure on the filter media. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,547, requires an air compressor, or other air pressure source. Another possible disadvantage of the patented apparatus, is that the it is rather bulky and difficult to handle, especially since the apparatus must be manually held in a specific position, resting on an end surface of the air cleaner, while a manual valve is being opened to direct the blast of compressed air into the central chamber of the air cleaner.